Chapter 1149 (1/2)
Randidly couldn’t help but laugh at Azriel’s rather ridiculous claim that this was all part of the plan. Which drew a sharp glance from the Creature, but the unexpected release did a lot to improve his mood. Even with the Nether howling above and large chunks of the Nether Ritual falling away and deteriorating around him, Randidly Ghsthound grinned at Azriel. “This was your plan?”
Then he reached out mentally, sliding easily through the thick aura of Nether that had seized Azriel’s body to reach her mind more directly. Even if the Creature had somehow inserted itself into the fabric of the Alpha Cosmos to resist his eviction efforts, Randidly still possessed the same intimate connection to all of the beings of his Soulskill. When Randidly reached, his mind and Azriel’s touched to each other.
They connected instantly.
Time slowed around them as their thoughts accelerated. Not fast enough that they had an infinite amount of time to discuss what was occurring, but enough for Randidly to check in on how Azriel was doing. And to find out why the hell she would plan for this.
To his surprise, when Randidly entered into Azriel’s mind he found himself sitting in a small room lined with warm-colored stone pillars. There was an ornate table accented with gold and two couches upholstered with a bright and lively colored pattern reminiscent of spring. Azriel primly took a sip from a bright orange teacup and regarded Randidly with her typical serious expression.
“Well, although the details were a bit more convoluted than I would have liked,” Azriel admitted, as though her ending up being warped into an open vessel by Nether was as simple as misreading the weather. “But… yes. I had a sense this would come to pass. That there was trouble stemming from this place.”
“Knowing there was trouble… you came here anyway. And you didn’t mention your sense to me at all when we met while you were heading to this place.” Randidly did his best to push down his rising irritation. “I could have helped, Azriel. If I had a little warning, could have ripped the Creature out of me before it had the chance to do this. And now-”
“Weren’t you rather busy with your own problems?” Azriel asked dryly. She set her cup down on the saucer and rotated it so the handle was point slightly away from her person.
To that question, Randidly didn’t have any satisfactory answer. To be honest, he had spent the last several days either resting or fighting against the huge Nether attack. But before that, since the time that Randidly had returned from the Great Rift to his body, there had definitely been some downtime that he had spent training or working on his images.
But still, the point was valid. Randidly had his own concerns in the outside world. Problems that he couldn’t make light of, despite Ileot Swacc’s strange insistence that he only wanted to be friends. And yet-
Randidly forced his hands to relax. It hadn’t even registered when they curled into tight claws. He walked slowly and sat down on the opposite couch from Azriel. “You know that’s not the point. If the Alpha Cosmos was in trouble… and you knew about it, you should have told me. I would have made time to help.”
Azriel picked her perfectly angled orange teacup up, took another long sip, and then set the cup down on the table with a soft click. Now that he was near, Randidly could smell the gentle touch of mint wafting up from the two steaming orange cups and the teal and orange striped pot between them. “Randidly, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it as honestly as you can.”
Blinking in confusion, Randidly nodded in the affirmative.
Azriel responded with her own sharp nod in response. “Do you think you can solve everything yourself?”
Very quickly, Randidly’s mouth twisted. “What sort of question is that?”
“The sort of question that lies at the heart of what is going on here in your Alpha Cosmos,” Azriel said lightly. Even though her hands were folded neatly in her lap, the tilt of her chin and her straight spine were positively combative as she held him in her crimson gaze. “And honestly, it should be a quite simple question: do you think you can solve everything on your own?”
“...obviously not,” Randidly finally said. “But this is my Alpha Cosmos. It’s not that I can handle everything alone; you obviously could have asked me and we would have worked together. Do you expect me to simply let these things happen without comment?”
“No, I do not expect anything of the sort. The question is just a simple matter of philosophy that I’m going to use against you in the discussion that follows.” A small smile crossed Azriel’s face. “So, let’s begin. I believe that even you cannot deny that what this… Creature has accomplished is only due to a growing flaw in your world, one that emerged after you allowed these… Nether energy into your existence. It became a part of you, but you did not give them an outlet here. And this world is physically you, so their presence could not be avoided. By acknowledging them, it appears the Creature has taken on a necessary role.
“So I suggest you take this new knowledge and find a way to use those energies in the way that you desire. And honestly… use the broader lessons the Creature is teaching you about this Alpha Cosmos so you don’t make a similar mistake again.”
This time, Randidly had an easier time relaxing the muscles around his jaw. He even took a moment to sip on the tea in front of him. “...I think I can see how that would work. I hadn’t thought about it, but… Nether is a part of me now. Perhaps that’s why… well, why I’m torn about how to solve the current problem. Now that things have developed to this point, there are only bad outcomes in front of us.”
“Is that really the case?” Azriel flicked a fingernail against her orange porcelain teacup. In this strange mental world, the noise was a strangely loud and pleasant chime. “I have a thought about you, Randidly Ghosthound. You have been forced to accept so many things in the past several years that you refuse to compromise or accept an offered shortcut when it isn’t absolutely necessary. And honestly, your greatest strength may very well be understanding when it isn’t necessary to compromise-”
“Are you really suggesting I compromise?” Randidly asked frostily. “The Creature… it has killed so many individuals. It experimented on thousands of people. Most, if not all, of those individuals but I met terrible ends. I was one of the few to survive. It bound and manipulated thousands more to give itself those opportunities. Even just talking about the souls in the previous iterations of my Soulskills- No. This is one of those situations where we need not compromise. And we cannot afford to. Not when the Creature always has the capability of making such callous decisions again.”
Azriel flicked the teacup again, lower. The sound was muted and dull in comparison to the former clear ring. “So the possible power you may gain from accepting the Creature’s image doesn’t even enter into the discussion? Is that really the attitude of one who believes that he can’t solve everything…?”